YouTube has secured the second position in overall U.S. TV usage according to Nielsen's Media Distributor Gauge for October, marking another significant achievement after surpassing Spotify in podcasting dominance.

The platform captured a 10.6% domestic consumption share, positioning itself behind Disney (11.7%) but notably ahead of Netflix (7.5%). This achievement is particularly noteworthy as it demonstrates YouTube's successful expansion beyond computers and mobile devices into smart TV-based home entertainment.

This development comes as Spotify pursues its own video expansion strategy, though the streaming giant faces significant challenges in catching up to YouTube's established position. Despite Spotify's substantial investments in podcasting, including numerous exclusive deals and creator contracts, YouTube has managed to overtake it in the podcasting space, primarily due to the rising popularity of video content.

The Nielsen data reveals interesting insights about other streaming platforms:

• Amazon Prime Video secured eighth place with 3.6% share
• Apple TV+, despite its exclusive content, didn't meet the 1% minimum reporting threshold
• Netflix reported 84.8 million paid subscriptions across U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in Q3 2024

Spotify plans to launch a video-podcast monetization program in early 2024, marking its latest attempt to diversify beyond music streaming. While the market remains optimistic about Spotify's diversification efforts, YouTube's strong position in both traditional video content and podcasting presents a significant challenge to competitors entering the space.

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